


homeward bound

by ACatWhoWrites



Series: A Prompt a Day in the Month of May [15]
Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Homeless, Busking, M/M, Microfic, Short One Shot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 06:32:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14710919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatWhoWrites/pseuds/ACatWhoWrites
Summary: Jongin's hired to take Chanyeol home.The Parks' home, that is.Regardless of what Chanyeol would prefer.





	homeward bound

Chanyeol's developed a sense for his audience, and this guy doesn't really belong. He's dressed in a fancy suit and shiny shoes, young. The younger ones always tip better, but they rarely stop and watch him in the day, always hurrying to some inconceivable event. Chanyeol's not felt the need to hurry in years and has loved every slow minute of it.

"Mr. Park." The young man's voice is soft, temptingly low. "I'm here to take you home."

Chanyeol rests his guitar on his thigh and gives the stranger a significant once-over, eyebrow raised. "With you?"

And the cutest thing happens. The stranger _blushes_. He removes his hands from his pockets and runs his fingers through his styled hair, ears red and eyes on the ground. "Of course not!"

_Damn. Too bad._

"Your family asked me to find you and take you back to the family estate."

The Park family estate. Chanyeol hasn't seen it in nearly eight years. This is the first time someone's actually located and approached him about it; maybe it is time to go back. Check things out, at least.

He pats the bench beside him. "Have a seat."

"We really should—"

"I've not seen them in a few years. A few more minutes won't matter." He smiles, and the stranger relaxes a little. "Just sit. Take in the sun a bit. Listen to the birds. _Relax_." The man does, and Chanyeol nods, picking up his guitar again. “You know me, but I don't know you. What's your name?”

“Kim Jongin. My uncle was your family's lawyer.”

“Now it's you?” Jongin shakes his head. “Junior partner, then.” Jongin nods. “I see...” He plays a song he's heard on the radio a lot. A woman pushing a stroller drops a handful of change into his open case, and he smiles at her, waving to the baby looking out over the side. "Sure _you_ don't want to take me home, instead?"

"Mr. Park, you're my client..."

"I'm the _subject_. My parents are the clients.” He casts a sideways glance to Jongin and grins. “And that's not a no."

“You parents want you home. I don't know what happened to make you leave, but they miss you.”

“They miss telling me what to do. My sister had more sense than me; she left the country, married someone overseas and is living out her dream of being a journalist.” He sighs and looks out over the park, taking in the changing leaves and familiar landscape. “I couldn't even leave the city.”

Jongin shudders suddenly and tucks his hands between his thighs.

"Dude, you cold?" Chanyeol shrugs out of his outer coat and hands it to him. "Here."

"No, I'm fine; thank you."

"I'm actually wearing, like, five sweaters under this. I'm good."

Jongin takes it shyly. "Thanks..." He's not petite by any means, but the sleeves still hang over his hands. It smells a bit like cloves, birds, and pizza. “Let me know if you get too cold without it.”

“No worries.” His hands are the coldest part of him; he traded his last pair of gloves for a guitar pick. Worth it, though. Caring for calluses and blisters isn't so easy without ready access to a first aid kit, and clinics aren't the friendliest to those of a certain smell and shade of dirt.

After sitting a while, long enough for Chanyeol to play a few more songs, Jongin asks, “Why don't you want to go home?”

“I actually do,” he admits. “I've never liked how pushy and image-focused my family is, but I still love them, you know? And I kind of wonder if I hurt them by leaving as much as they hurt me by raising me the way they did.”

“So...this is your extended and misguided rebellious phase trying to gauge how much your parents love you to want you back.”

Chanyeol crosses his arms over his guitar, frowning at the bare branches across from their bench. “It didn't seem like it when I first up and left...but I guess so, yeah.”

“And you're afraid to face them after so long.”

“Definitely. I mean, they say you love them because they're family, but I just...don't know. I don't know if I can or if they do, so do I really want to go back to that?”

“No one's ever said family is simple or easy, Mr. Park.” Jongin leans his elbows on his knees with a sigh. “Where are you staying?”

“Like, sleeping? Sometimes I go to the shelters, when the weather's bad. Lately, I've just been here.” He kicks a heel back, hitting his stuffed backpack.

“Well, it took me too long to find you, so grab your things. Stay with me until you're ready. I don't set a fancy table," Jongin says. He smiles back at Chanyeol. "I do have a king-sized bed, though."

Chanyeol sets his guitar in its case, coins and all, and pulls his backpack from beneath the bench. “Now I sense you really are propositioning me. Is it because I'm just that handsome and not actually your client?”

Jongin stands and brushes dried paint flecks from the backs of his thighs. “It's because I want to keep an eye on you.” He picks up Chanyeol's backpack and starts walking.

Chanyeol picks up his case and catches up easily. “So my looks have nothing to do with it?”

“Of course not.”

“Liar. You think I'm handsome.”

“Maybe.”

“I think _you're_ handsome.”

“Thank you.”

“You're not going to compliment me back? Have manners changed since I left home?” He follows Jongin like an excited puppy, tail wagging and eager to please. He's not going home, yet, but maybe he's close to finding something better. It's been a while since he's had a friend he's not had to watch his back with.

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyyy. AO3 is letting me post again!
> 
> I decided to try a prompt a day in May, not following any list. This came from **home**.


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